The Shadow King Saga!
by Ebenzener
Summary: The Shadow King, thought to have been defeated by Charles Xavier, resurfaces in the body of a young boy, and plans to take revenge on Xavier... what will happen when the Shadow King attacks and the XMen cannot injure the Shadow King's host?
1. Many Years Before

Hello. Yes, this is my first ever story to make it to and I have never done anything like it ever before. So please give as many (constructive) comments as you can, but pleeeease don't be too harsh, 'kay? D

Anyway, my version of the X crew goes as follows: the members of the X Men are Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Jean Grey as the Phoenix, Rogue, Shadowcat, Spyke, Colossus, Storm and Wolverine. The trainees consist of Iceman, Jubilee, the Scarlet Witch (who hasn't yet discovered that Magneto is her father and would began her search for him once she does find out, and I'm working on that as you read this, so be patient...), Berzerker, Psyche (Dylan Ecker, 15, a character created by me; he can project his consciousness out of his body and is also an empath, and plays a BIG part in the story), Magma, Cannonball, Sunspot, Psylocke and Multiple. This story also contains my version of the Dark Phoenix Saga, a very different version. So yeah!

Anyway, I should probably just stop talking and let the story speak... erm... type for itself, yeah? Enjoy! I proudly present "X-Men Evolution: The Shadow King Saga"!

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The Shadow King Saga ----------

Many years ago, before Charles Xavier founded the X-Men, there was a mutant named Amahl Farouk whose telepathic powers rivalled Charles' own, and was in fact, second only to him. Amahl Farouk was mis-using his powers, preferring to cause chaos with them instead of using them on small scales like most other mutants did (remember, the X-Men didn't exist at this time). Charles took Amahl Farouk down in a battle against him on the Astral Plane (a plane of existance which only telepaths can access). The result: Amahl Farouk was shut out of his body and his persona was trapped forever in the Astral Plane.

Unbeknownst to Xavier, Amahl Farouk's powers grew stronger while he was on the astral plane, and he became thoroughly evil and called himself the Shadow King. During his stay in the Astral Plane, he had created an abode for himself called the Shadow Room, and had come up with a plan to get back into the physical world, yes, that's the one everyone else is in, and kill Charles Xavier, for he was lusting for vengeance. His plan was to possess the body of someone on the physical universe, and using that body as a host, kill Xavier. But how was his plan going to work if there's nobody to possess?

Many years later...

"Oh mi gosh!" Multiple, the youngest member of the X-Men, otherwise known to most people as Jamie Madrox, screamed as a flaming red car, "flaming" as in literally flaming, flew through the night sky towards him and two others.

"Wanda, do something!" Another boy, this one taller, darker and obviously older, exclaimed at a girl around his height, whose hair was actually really dark red instead of black, who immediately raised her hands at the flaming car, and in a split second the car stopped moving completely, surrounded in a brilliant sapphire blue aura that matched exactly the glow about Wanda's hands. Another flaming car, blue this time, flew right at the group. The red car, under Wanda's control, hurled itself at the blue car, and both exploded in a burst of fiery orange and red.

"Wanda! Roberto! Jamie! How are things on your side?" A female voice echoed through the minds of the three young mutants.

"We're all right, Jean," Wanda addressed the disembodied voice which apparently resonated from deep inside their heads. "We just got attacked by two flying cars, but pretty much okay, though. How about you?"

On the other side of the scrap metal yard, a redheaded girl and a guy who was slightly taller than her ran through the maze of unwanted cars and fires which burst out at any random place at any random time.

"Fine, Wanda, fine," the girl concentrated on the three words and visualised them being sent to Wanda. Suddenly, a fire burst out in front of Jean and the guy, Cyclops. "We've got to go now! Aah!" Jean visualised Wanda receiving her message, and then grabbed on to Scott's hand to pull him three metres into the air where she was floating, away from the fire which had just sprung up, and then began to fly in the direction of the biggest fire, hoping to be of assistance.

"Haha!" A guy with fiery red hair and several flamethrower devices attached to his costume, known to everyone as John Allerdyce, but to the X-Men as Pyro, laughed maniacally as a fireball manifested in his right hand. "I wonder what other tricks you have up your sleeve?" He laughed yet again as he threw the fireball down at someone who, as if on cue, disappeared in a cloud of black smoke and reappeared beside a girl with blue eyes and brown hair tied in a ponytail. "Man, this guy's good!" The person who reappeared said in a strong German accent to the girl, who seemed completely unalarmed at his devilish features. "We all know that, Kurt," the girl replied, and then screamed and pointed at a flaming motorcycle flying towards them. Kurt grabbed onto the girl's hand and they both disappeared amidst smoke and the smell of brimstone.

Out of the shadow created by a lorry blocking the intense light of the blazing inferno Pyro was standing in the centre of, stepped Psylocke, a Chinese girl with a pink streak through her otherwise raven black hair, Berzerker, a blond guy with orange streaks through his spiky hair, slightly taller than Psylocke, Magma, a dark-skinned girl with chestnut hair and Psyche, otherwise known as Dylan Ecker, with dirty-blond hair and jet black pupils, all of them holding hands.

"That sure was a bumpy ride," Berzerker said to Psylocke. "At least I can teleport!" Psylocke retorted. "Anyway, how are we going to take Pyro down?" Magma asked urgently. "I can slice through his head," Psylocke said, "but I can't possibly survive the flames, so that's one idea down." "How about this; Berzerker and Magma distract him from the front while Psylocke teleports in from his back and then slices his head," Psyche suggested. "It'll still be extremely hot there," Magma pointed out. After staring into space for a few seconds with a puzzled look on his face, Berzerker lighted up, pointing out that he had an idea. "Psyche, you take Psylocke and you psst... psst... psst..." and then all of them do the thing that cartoon characters do to make it seem as if they are discussing but actually making "psst, psst" sounds, and then all of them shout, "Go!", and Psylocke and Psyche sit down in the lotus position while Magma and Berzerker run out front and start hurling fireballs and energy bolts at the maniacal Pyro who began hurling fireballs the size of the average motorcycle at the pair to cancel out their projectiles.

Sitting down and facing each other, Psylocke and Psyche held hands, and then Psyche's eyes suddenly glowed pink for a moment before both him and Psylocke slumped onto the floor unconscious. Behind Pyro, two pink orbs of light appeared, and then shone brilliantly as the light from the orbs spread out to form two copies of Psylocke and Psyche which could be mistaken for the real Psylocke and Psyche. As Pyro turned around to see what caused the glow of pink light, Psylocke instinctively thrust a blade, which seemed as if it was made out of shadows and was growing from her wrist, into Pyro's forehead. Pyro, physically unharmed, and looking like someone who just woke up from a hundred-year slumber, fainted onto the floor in a heap. The two superheroes who caused his downfall, or anyway, the copies of the two superheroes who caused his downfall, instantaneously dissolved into pink light and disappeared, and at the same time they disappeared, the unconscious Psylocke and Psyche jolted from what seemed like sleep and stood up again.

"How long do you think he'll remain like that?" Psyche asked. "Probably a few hours," Psylocke replied, "assuming he is real." Suddenly, the entire scrap metal yard faded away into a large silver circular room the size of a football field. "Class dismissed," an African woman said as she flew down from the ceiling where she was floating and addressed the roomful of mutants. "That was very good work there," she said, facing Berzerker, Magma, Psyche and Psylocke. "Thanks, Storm," Magma replied, obviously very flattered, or at least, Psyche knew she was flattered; Psyche was an empath. He could create and control and feel the emotions of others. So, he could feel the weird kind of happiness and warm, light feeling that one feels when he or she is flattered coming from Magma, Psylocke and Berzerker.

Very far away, in a place where the sky was pearly orange and pink, and the ground was also pearly orange and pink, a teenage boy walked around the vast land, curious of his surroundings. Out of the pearly orange ground, a man wearing a black cloak and a hood materialised.

"You're the first person I've met in all these years!" the mysterious man declared to the bewildered boy who seemed as if he wanted to fly away from the man who just sprouted from the floor. "Speak, my boy. From where do you project?" Looking very lost, afraid and just plain scared, the boy stammered, "..Wh... what do you mean? What do you mean 'project'? I... I don't know!" "Nonsense!" The cloaked man shouted as he pondered. "Only the most powerful telepaths can come here! What do you mean you can't project?" The cloaked man was very angry and it was obvious he wanted an answer.

"I... I don't know!" The boy replied. "I was walking out of my room, and then suddenly I glowed orangey-pink and then I was here!"

Stopping to think for a while, the cloaked man stumbled on the inkling that this boy had the ability to walk between the Astral Plane and the physical universe. "I've got to have you!" The cloaked man shouted, and then suddenly grabbed onto the boy's head, and both their eyes glowed black, as the cloaked man transformed into a mass of shadows and flew into the boy through his eyes, and two became one, as the boy fell to the ground.

Sitting up, the boy looked at his body, and then said in a malicious voice, "I have done it! I have got someone through which I can kill!"

Sitting back on the ground in a meditative pose, the boy, now possessed by the cloaked stranger, concentrated on getting into the physical universe, and he felt a peculiar floating feeling, and he was flying... and suddenly he fell to the ground and felt grass. Grass! The boy stood up, looking at the grass that he landed on, for there was no grass in the Astral Plane, and exclaimed, "I've come back! This is marvellous! Now all I need to do is find Xavier..."

With the body of a person who could travel through the Astral Plane towards Bayville, Massachussetts, and then materialise there, the Shadow King wasn't going to have a difficult time at all... not at all. But first, he needed to pay some people a visit.

Along the way to Massachusetts, the cloaked figure, actually the Shadow King, decided to put this boy whose body he possessed under his telepathic control and give him the codename Portal, for his abilities proved to be very useful. Now, he wanted to search for some mutants who could be of possible assistance to him. He needed someone who could attack, and someone who could defend, and someone who could assist him in other affairs. So many things to do, so little time...


	2. Possession

In the Danger Room, Portal lurks...

"Today's the day!" Dylan said enthusiastically to Amara, referring to the test they had to take before they officially became X-Men and no longer just trainees. "Are you excited?"

"Not exactly," Amara said, "but I'm definitely afraid! We're going through a full-scale mission!"

"Yeah, that too," Dylan replied, "but at least we get good partners. Me, you, Ray and Wanda!"

Laughing, Amara pulled Dylan along as she ran, "just come to the Danger Room with me so we won't be late, or we won't take the test at all, Dylan!"

A few minutes later, all four of the test candidates were waiting in the Danger Room, decked out in their X-Men uniforms. Later on, Storm and Wolverine walked into the control room and said, "Now, today you will be doing a simulation of an attempt to get a device Y from a room in the building that you will be transported to. You have one hour to find the device and escape to the roof. Throughout the simulation there will be people who will attack you, all of which will be either mutants or security guards. Good luck!" 

The control room, the door, everything faded out into the lobby of a building in which our four candidates are standing. Watches materialised on their wrists, and the timing showed a "00:59:59" which was slowly counting downwards to zero. "Okay, what do we do now?" Magma asked. "Let's see..." Berzerker thought for a while, and then said, "Psyche, you go with Wanda and take the first ten floors. Me and Magma will cover everything else. Okay?" Everyone nodded, and then Wanda said, "Okay, guys, good luck! Come on, Dylan!" Everyone ran off in different directions.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Portal walked off tailing Psyche and the Scarlet Witch...

A few minutes later, Psyche and the Scarlet Witch were running along the sixth floor corridor, away from a mutant who was throwing red energy balls at the both of them. Sick and tired of running away, Wanda turned around and fired a sapphire blue projectile at one of the red energy balls, causing the energy ball to rebound back at the mutant who was throwing them, who then hurled another energy ball at the one which was flying at him, both exploding in fireworks of blue and red, throwing all three mutants backwards onto the floor.

"Psyche! Project yourself behind him and then OOF!" The Scarlet Witch flew a few metres backwards as an energy ball had hit her in the chest, causing the impact which threw her backwards. Standing up, Dylan noticed that everytime the mutant threw an energy ball, he would feel anger emanating from him, which meant that anger powered the energy balls. Coming up with his own plan to take the mutant down, Dylan raised a hand at three energy balls flying at him and concentrated on the anger that the mutant was feeling, sensing it, feeling it, becoming one with it... for if Dylan could tap into the anger that powered these energy balls he could establish a psychic link with the person from which they originated and rebound the energy balls... something Professor X had taught him. and BOOM! The energy balls flew backwards at the mutant and knocked him all the way into the opposite wall.

"Thank you, Professor," Dylan muttered to himself and ran back to help the Scarlet Witch up.

Behind the clerk's desk, the Shadow King thought, "So this boy has mental powers? Splendid! I'll abandon this body and go for him, for I can exploit his already strong mental powers for myself." Realising a loophole in his otherwise splendid plan, the shadow cursed and said, "Alas! A being of mental energy cannot exist by itself in this world without a host!"

Standing up and looking at the couple standing in the corridor and planning their next move, Portal decided to do the unthinkable and suddenly ran towards Psyche, attempting to jump hosts.

"Psyche! Watch out!" Wanda shouted, pointing at Portal, who was running at Psyche, his hands outstretched to grab hold of Dylan's head. As if on instinct, Dylan stretched his hands out as well, and grabbed onto the shadow's temples, and as he began building up contrasting emotions for a psychic attack, Portal made full use of the psychic link and projected his persona into Psyche's body, taking over it completely just as Psyche launched the psychic attack into Portal, escaping all harm.

Pretending to be Psyche, the mysterious persona that had possessed him said to the Scarlet Witch, "Go! Search the other rooms while I handle this guy!" Nodding in reply, the Scarlet Witch, obviously tricked, ran into the nearest room in search of the device Y.

Looking back at the boy lying on the floor, Psyche knelt down beside him and communicated to the Portal, ""Go back to the Astral Plane, look for my abode, the Shadow Room, go inside, join the others, and wait for me." Portal nodded and vanished in a glow of pearly orange and pink.

Being extremely powerful, and extremely evil as well, Psyche could bend the illusion that they were all in to suit his preferences. Realising that, Psyche carelessly waved a hand at a nearby wall, and a door materialised, through which Psyche walked, into an empty room which upon another wave of Psyche's hand became a room with a computer in the centre. Sending out a telepathic message to his partners, Psyche echoed through their minds, "Friends! This is Psyche! Come to the laboratory on the sixth floor immediately!" Upon saying "laboratory", the door glowed black for a while before revealing the words "laboratory" on its front.

Sensing the arrival of the Scarlet Witch, Psyche created the illusion of a man hurling a purple energy bolt at him, and when the Scarlet Witch opened the door to enter, he rebounded the energy bolt towards the man, who then screamed in pain and fainted as he hit the wall. After everyone was in the room, Psyche walked over to the door and made to lock the door, and then turned to face everyone else again.

"What gives, Psyche? We only have thirty-four minutes left," Berzerker asked with a hint of irritation in his voice.

"This is important," Psyche said as he walked over to the computer in the middle of the room and pressed some keys. "When I walked into this room, I saw this guy guarding this computer. I was wondering what was so important that he should guard it, and a few minutes before you guys came in, I found this." Clicking on a file, the computer projected forth a hologram that showed two red-headed girls, one wearing a black costume with a green stripe through the middle, the other donning a black cloak and a black dress, flying in the sky hurling fireballs and pink energy bolts at each other.

"Isn't that Jean and Dark Phoenix fighting?" Magma asked. A few months back, a clone of Jean Grey, named Madelyne Pryor, emerged, and as Jean was the physical avatar of the Phoenix Force, and Madelyne was essentially a less powerful Jean Grey #2, she too had access to the Phoenix Force, but she abused the power that she wielded and eventually became corrupted by it and became Dark Phoenix, who fought Jean Grey in a great battle.

"Yes, it is," Psyche replied, nodding his head, and then said, "but that isn't what is important. What is important is this." He grabbed the mouse and scrolled downwards, and the hologram responded by revealing Professor X in the cockpit of the X-Jet, his fingers on his temples, the picture of utmost concentration. "He's channeling Jean's powers into Dark Phoenix here," Psyche explained. However, all three of the trainees-going-on-X-Men did not but the story.

"How can that be? The professor can't possibly have done that!" Magma shouted. "Yeah!" Berzerker joined in. "Besides, how would you know he's channeling Jean's powers?"

"I've channelled power before," Psyche said, "ask her," he pointed at the Scarlet Witch as he continued, "I saved the both of us by channeling three energy balls back at the sender. I should know what someone looks like when he channels energy."

"But why would the professor do something like that?" The Scarlet Witch asked, still not believing Psyche's far-fetched story. "Simple," Psyche replied. "If Jean died, the professor could channel her powers to himself, and since Jean is generally more powerful than Dark Phoenix, he chose to steal her powers instead of Dark Phoenix's."

"That's rubbish!" Berzerker shouted angrily. "the professor won't do that!"

"How would you know?" Psyche retorted. "Power corrupts. Power corrupts, Berzerker," leaving Berzerker dumbfounded.

"I'm still not convinced," said the Scarlet Witch, crossing her hands across her chest.

"Well, what about Cerebro?" Psyche asked. "Cerebro amplifies his powers, don't they? Why would he have created something that amplifies power if he did not crave power?"

"He needed the extra power to find mutants, Psyche," Magma answered, "to find us."

"Which brings us to another point," Psyche said. "Why would he want to look for mutants? To keep a lookout for mutants with strong powers that he could take for himself?" Looking into their minds, Psyche saw that he was halfway to making them believe that the professor was evil and power-  
hungry. "I'll just use my powers to do the other half," Psyche thought, and concentrated as he removed all the thoughts from their heads that suggested that he was lying.

After a few moments, the three faces which were once so angry at the thought that Psyche was accusing the Professor of such deeds softened, and looked as if they were enlightened, as if they were shown the truth.

"Yeah," the Scarlet Witch said, "I guess he really is corrupted." "I'm sorry I doubted you before, Psyche," Magma said apologetically. Psyche could sense that Magma was truly sorry, and he was happy, or, to be more specific, the thing inside Psyche was happy.

"Never mind," Psyche said, "he is such a powerful telepath, after all. He could have tricked you for all you know." iAnd so can I/i, he thought. "I never thought he was such a person," Berzerker said. "No-one would have," Magma replied.

"Anyway," Psyche said, "do you guys want to help me stop him?" The three of them looked at each other, and then nodded, and the Scarlet Witch said, "It's time someone told him what he's doing is wrong."

Smiling at the prospect of being able to take down Charles Xavier with the students that he had produced, biting the hand that fed them, the thing in Psyche was happy. Twisted, in fact. Looking at her watch, Magma exclaimed in shock, "We only have eleven minutes!" "Calm yourself, Magma," Psyche said, as he stared out into space as his eyes glowed pink for a few seconds, and then became normal again. "Looking at everyone, he smiled and said, "Device Y is in the office on floor eight."

Holding on to a steel canister labelled "Device Y", Magma ran up the stairs, together with everyone else, all the way to the roof where they were told they had to meet. "Congratulations, trainees," Storm's voice boomed from what seemed to be the sky. "All of you are now officially members of the X-Men"  
As the newest members of the X-Men smiled and beamed at each other and gave each other high-fives and congratulated each other on their successful test, Storm and Wolverine, up in the control room, pressed the button that would cancel out the holograms in the Danger Room, and as she did, the building faded away to reveal the familiar sight of a circular silver room... or at least to Storm.

"You can go now," Storm said into the microphone. To Storm's astonishment, as she looked out of the glass panel, Magma was firing fireballs at a wall.

"Magma! Stop this immediately!" Storm said into the microphone. "How can I when you haven't turned off the holograms?" Magma shouted and continued firing fireballs at a target that only she, Berzerker, the Scarlet Witch and Psyche could see. Alarmed, Storm looked at Wolverine and said, "Logan! Did you touch anything?" Looking up at the woman who looked positively alarmed, Wolverine replied, "Nah, I haven't." Looking out of the glass panel, both of them realised that the new X-Men were in danger. Or, at least, mad. Both of them ran out of the control room, in search of the professor, whom they hoped could solve their problem.

Through the eyes of the four new X-Men, they were still on the rooftop, and the person whom Magma was firing at was now slumped on the floor, unconscious. "Storm!" Berzerker shouted at nowhere in particular, for he could not see the control room, "Turn off the holograms!" "I don't think she can hear you, Ray," the Scarlet Witch said. "If she could, she would have done something by now."

The person who had possessed Psyche knew that by speeding up neural signals in a mutant's brain, he could greatly amplify their powers. After looking into Psyche's memories, he had another trick up his sleeve. Putting his fingers on his temples and broadcasting his thoughts (Come, Jean! We need you here!) to Jean, he walked over to the people who were also trapped, together with him, in a self-imposed prison; the holograms were already turned off, but Psyche is now influencing his friend's minds to see illusions that they have not been turned off yet.

Psyche said, "I have an idea on how to take down the professor." Pausing and turning his head to face the Scarlet Witch, he continued, "and I will need your help, Wanda. When Storm and Wolverine arrive with the Professor and Jean-" "How do you know Jean will be here?" Magma inquired. "Who else will the Professor call?" Psyche asked. "Everyone knows the Professor's favourite is Jean. Besides, both of them share the same power. They could combine forces to get us out of here." Everyone nodded in agreement. "Anyway, when she comes, I will channel her power, the Phoenix Force, and will direct it into Wanda, who will focus on travelling back in time, so that we can go and get the blueprints for Cerebro." "Cerebro? Why would you need Cerebro blueprints?" Berzerker asked. "How am I... we supposed to fight the world's greatest telepath without backup to amplify our own powers?" Psyche replied. Truth is, all Psyche wanted was to use the blueprints to build another Cerebro in the Astral Plane and use it against the professor.

"You have a point there," the Scarlet Witch said in agreement.

"I'm going to project out and see if everything is all right, is that fine with you guys?" Looking at his friends nodding back at him, Psyche's eyes glowed pink for a few seconds before collapsing unconscious to the ground, but Magma and the Scarlet Witch caught him, and laid him down on the floor gently.

Instead of projecting himself out of the Danger Room to see what was going on, the person in Psyche's mind tapped into Psyche's powers and projected himself out of his host's body. Utterly impressed with himself for choosing a host that could almost give him a body of his own, the cloaked figure, materialising from a ball of pink light in the control room, shapeshifted into the spitting image of Professor X, the person whom he hated so. He could do this, because any projection done by Psyche is merely a projection of thoughts, and the Shadow King, being able to manipulate thoughts, could therefore manipulate himself to change shape at will.

Suddenly, the door to the control room opened to reveal Jean Grey with a concerned look on her face, who shut the door after she came in, and then asked what the thought was Professor X, "What's wrong, Professor?" Turning to face the glass panel, the Shadow King, disguised as the Professor, said, "Dylan, Ray, Wanda and Amara are trapped in the holograms, even though they are already turned off. Use your telepathy to see through their eyes, and see what is causing these illusions."

Nodding, Jean turned to face the glass panel, and placed her fingers on her temples and concentrated on seeing through their eyes. "That's it, Jean," the Shadow King said, "close your eyes and concentrate." Obeying, Jean closed her eyes for a few seconds, but then opened them again and said, "sorry, professor, I can't see a thing!" "Then channel the Phoenix Force, Jean," the Shadow King said. "Concentrate on drawing the power of the Phoenix!" Closing her eyes, Jean began to manifest a fiery orange aura. Seizing the opportunity, the Shadow King dissolved into pink light and the eyes of Psyche's body opened yet again, signalling that he had come back from his projection.

Standing up, he said to Wanda, "do it! Concentrate on us going back in time!" Everyone hald hands; Psyche's eyes glowed pink, showing that he was using his powers, but suddenly turned black, signalling that the Shadow King was using his powers, and then finally turned orange, and so did everyone else's, signalling that he was successfully channelling the Phoenix Force. In a split second, all four of them disappeared in a flash of blue. Back in the control room, Jean opened her eyes and said, "sorry, professor, I just can't see anything," and then realised that she was the only one in the room. "Professor?"


	3. Time Loop

A brilliant flash of blue in the Danger Room revealed the four superheroes holding hands. Looking around, Wanda said, "You know, maybe what we did was deactivate the holograms and not travel back in time."

"Let's look around," Berzerker suggested, and opened the door that led out of the Danger Room.

Walking out into the corridor, Magma wandered off for a while, and then ran back, screaming. "Dylan! We're coming!" Looking utterly puzzled, all three of the superheroes stared at her and said, "huh?" "The past us!" Magma said. "The us from the past!" Looking alarmed, Psyche said to everyone, "they can't see us here. We'll disturb the fabric of time! Run!" And all of them practically flew all the way to the other side of the corridor and out of sight.

"We have to be quick," Psyche said. "We have to get to Cerebro now!"

All of them ran like the wind, across corridors and across the basketball court to the door that led to Cerebro.

As they were halfway up the West staircase, Berzerker held on to Psyche's and Magma's hands, stopping them, and said, "uh oh." "What!" cried Magma.

"I took the West staircase up to the Danger Room just now." Berzerker said apprehensively. "HEY! Who the heck are you!" A voice boomed from the bottom of the staircase.

"Which means that that voice belongs to..." Wanda said, her voice trailing off into nothingness.

"Hey! Who are you, imposter me!"

Everyone looked down at another Berzerker, who had "confused and startled" written all over his face.

"RUN!" Magma shrieked, and all of them ran towards Cerebro, hoping to shake off the Berzerker from the past, who was hot on their heels. Just as they reached the door to Cerebro, and Magma, being the slowest runner, was still in the adjoining corridor, with Berzerker cornering her, powering up an energy ball. "Don't throw that or I'll throw something else at you," Magma said, pointing a finger at the past Berzerker. "Be my guest," Berzerker said, and threw the energy ball, and Magma screamed, dodged the energy ball and "flamed on", her skin becoming blood red with black stripes that made her look like a tiger, and her hair blazed with fire as she fired a magma ball at Berzerker, who got hit squarely in the chest and was flung backwards.

The Berzerker from the present suddenly shouted in pain as he grasped his chest and fell to the ground. Wanda knelt down beside him and asked him what was wrong, as Psyche, seemingly unaware of Berzerker's sudden pain, stared at the door to Cerebro as his eyes glowed pink, and a cool female voice said, "Welcome, Professor," and the doors to Cerebro slid open, just as Magma ran up to them. "Can you get i... oh, my GOSH! What happened!" Magma screamed as she saw Berzerker lying on the floor. "I have no idea," Psyche said, "bring him in before anyone sees us." They dragged the injured Berzerker into Cerebro, and then the door slid shut. Psyche ran to the coveted Cerebro, and then put the helmet on, and switched the computer on. He then began searching the computer's files for blueprints, as Wanda asked him what had happened. "I felt as if I was burning," Berzerker said. "It was like I got hit by boiling water." Why don't you just take your shirt off and show us what happened?" Magma suggested. After Berzerker took off his shirt, Magma gasped when she saw that what had hurt Berzerker so much was a circular burn mark that looked exactly like burn marks that were left from one of Magma's magma balls.

"I've got it!" Psyche thought to himself, elated, as he gazed upon the blueprints of Cerebro. He looked at the blueprints for quite some time, so that his memory could capture it better, and later, all the Shadow King would have to do was look through his memories and copy down the blueprints from there. Meanwhile, behind him, Berzerker was enraged that Magma had done this to his part self, thus influencing the present him, giving him the exact same injury as his past self had suffered. "You mean you did this!" Berzerker shouted as his powers ran amok; electricity flew from Berzerker's hands into the metal ceiling of the giant computer, shocking Psyche since it was connected to him. Shocked, both literally and metaphorically, Psyche lifted the helmet from his head and put it back, and realised that the shock had messed with his memories of the blueprints.

His eyes turning black, Psyche turned around and walked towards Berzerker, his face the epitome of anger. Just before the Shadow King decided to switch hosts and telepathically fry Berzerker's brains just for the fun of it, the door slid open to reveal a shocked Professor X. "What is happening here?" the Professor demanded. It would be understandable as to why the Professor was so shocked, if you see from his point of view; he came into Cerebro, the room that only he was able to access, to find a shirtless Berzerker sitting on the floor, Wanda and Magma staring at his chest, and Psyche appearing to be accessing Cerebro.

"Charles Xavier," Psyche said as he looked at the Professor with glowing black eyes, "we meet again, after so long." Looking at the bewildered look on the Professor's face, Psyche laughed and said, "Don't you recognise me? Amahl Farouk? The Shadow King?" A black energy ball manifested in Psyche's hand and he hurled it at the Professor, who deflected the energy ball back at Psyche who raised a hand to catch the energy ball and absorb it. "Amahl Farouk?" The Professor said, stunned. "How did you get out of there?" Laughing maniacally yet again, Psyche replied, "Let's just say I have a good host."

"Get out of Dylan, immediately!" the Professor demanded, actually looking angry. Everyone knew that it took a lot to get the Professor to show his anger. "Alright, I will," Psyche said, and his eyes glowed pink and he collapsed onto the floor as another Psyche materialised behind the unconscious one. "Here I am, Xavier," Psyche said, and threw an energy bolt at the Professor, who was not fast enough to deflect it this time and both man and wheelchair were hurled out of the room. Going back into his body, Psyche stood up and walked out of the room with truimph written all over his face, releasing his psychic hold on Wanda, Magma and Berzerker, for he no longer required their assistance.

Snapping out of the hold Psyche had on them, Wanda, Magma and Berzerker ran over to the Professor and helped him up. "We're so sorry, Professor," Magma said, almost on the verge of tears, very sincere in her apology. "Yes, I know you are, Amara," the Professor said, as Berzerker and Wanda helped him up. "He's in the basketball court," the Professor said. "Go there and stop him," he said to them, and they nodded and ran off towards the basketball court while Berzerker walked briskly; he is injured, you know.

As Psyche walked to the basketball court, he saw himself, except he was decked out in black and was wearing a black trenchcoat, not unlike the clothes that the Shadow King donned during his time in the Astral Plane, standing behind a row of teenage mutants; Portal himself, a girl with red, wavy hair cut to shoulder-length, a boy with dirty-  
blond hair and green eyes, an Indian girl in royal blue robes and a girl who had purple hair, fingernails and pupils, facing a row of people made up of Cyclops, Storm, Iceman, ianother/iBerzerker, this one suffering from the same injury as the Berzerker from the present was, and another Scarlet Witch, who were firing their own projectiles to counter the fireballs fired by the opposing side, their source being the immensely big cloud of fire floating above them.

As the Professor, Wanda, Berzerker and Magma caught up, Berzerker and Wanda glowed white and flew into their past counterparts, and so did Psyche, who flew into his black-clothed counterpart, and the same thing happened to Magma, but she flew into the school building, forming one person out of the present and past persons. The mutants on both sides were stunned by this, and as a result, the projectiles from both sides hit the people from the opposing side and both sides flew backwards.

"What just happened?" Berzerker sat up, now wearing a shirt, and asked Wanda. "I don't know, but I think it's because we walked in from the past to the present because time overlapped," she replied. On the other side, Psyche sat up, recovering from the attack, and so did everyone else on that side. "Portal!" Psyche said loudly, "the Shadow Room." Portal nodded and snapped his fingers, upon which all six of the mutants on their side disappeared in a flash of pearly orange and pink.


	4. Infiltration

Inside the Shadow Room, Psyche sat down on a large blood red futon mattress with gold motifs and blood red armrests placed behind a wooden table that reached only his knees, while all the other mutants sat down cross-legged on the tatami floor.

"Sooner or later, Xavier will set his mutants on us," Psyche said, before he revealed his plan of how he was going to take the X-Men down in a battle that Psyche knew would occur sooner or later. "Sooner or later," Psyche continued, "Xavier will send people here to look for the body that I inhabit now. When that happens, Candle-" he looked at the girl with red, wavy hair, "and Magnify," he nodded at the boy with dirty-blond hair and green eyes, "to create fireballs to attack the X-Men with. Shimmer will divert any threat towards the X-Men," he said, facing the Indian girl, and then continued, facing the girl with purple hair, pupils and nails, "and Violet will shield us from other attacks made by them."

Those sitting down in front of Psyche nodded in agreement.

"Now, I will need to practice using this boy's powers," Psyche said. "All of you, go back to your rooms and wait for further instructions. Portal, stay here." Standing up, all the other mutants, also under the psychic control of the Shadow King, opened the door leading out of Psyche's room, and once everyone was out, Candle slid the door shut.

"What do you want me to do?" Portal questioned.

"We're not strong enough to take down the X-Men," Psyche said. "I need you to bring us to the X-Mansion. I will handle the rest." "Alright," Portal said, nodding in agreement, as he snapped his fingers and both him and Psyche vanished.

Instantly after Psyche and Portal vanished, they reappeared in the basketball court of the X-Mansion. As Psyche led the way into the mansion, a voice in his head that sounded exactly like Professor X's said, "I know you're here. Get out of here before I drive you out." "Make me, Xavier," Psyche replied with a malicious voice dripping with venom, and the foreheads of both him and Portal glowed black for a few seconds.

"I've shielded us from psychic interference," Psyche said hurriedly, "but it won't last for long. Come on, we have to be quick." They ran towards the student's rooms, and Psyche's eyes glowed black as they walked over to a door that he blasted open with an energy ball, revealing an alarmed Wanda Maximoff.

"Dylan!" Wanda shouted in alarm. "What're you doing! D...Don't come any closer!" she said as Psyche began to move close to her.

"From now on..." Psyche said softly, venomously, "you will work with me. Do you understand?" Wanda's eyes turned as black as Psyche's, as she slowly fell under the Shadow King's psychic spell. "Yes, I do, Dylan," Wanda said.

Psyche stretched out a hand to touch the face of the mesmerised Wanda, and a black shape flew out of Psyche and into Wanda, showing that the Shadow King had switched hosts, as Psyche collapsed to the floor.

"Take the boy back to the Shadow Room, Portal," Wanda said to Portal. "Quick! Xavier's men are coming!" Portal nodded and vanished, together with Psyche's body, and Wanda's black eyes turned normal again, just as Wolverine and Storm ran past her door, and Wolverine looked in and said, "Psyche came in here?" "Yes," Wanda said, "but he went out after blasting open the door," Wanda stammered, acting as if she were frightened, as Wolverine continued running along the hallway, in search of Psyche.

Wanda walked out of her room, and ran down the staircase to the sitting room, in which she saw Sunspot and Shadowcat, also looking for Psyche. "Have you seen Spike?" Sunspot asked. "Yes, I have," Wanda said. "Come, follow me." They walked out into the basketball court, where Wanda telepathically called for Portal.

"Are you sure he's here, Wanda?" Shadowcat asked. "Yes, yes, I'm sure," Wanda said as Portal materialised from orange-pink light, to the astonishment of Shadowcat and Sunspot. "Oh mi gosh!" Shadowcat exclaimed. "Bring us back to the Shadow Room," Wanda said to Portal, and before Shadowcat and Sunspot had a chance to run away, they were all spirited away to the Astral Plane.

The three X-Men and Portal appeared in Psyche's room in the Shadow Room, and the black shadow flew out of Wanda and into Psyche, inhabiting him again. "Where are we?" Sunspot asked, his voice quivering in fright. "Good question!" Shadowcat said in response. "Where are we, Wanda?" Turning her head to look at the person sitting behind the wooden table, Shadowcat screamed and shrieked, "Psyche!"

"No, Kitty," Psyche said maliciously, "not Psyche." A devilish grin spread itself on Psyche's face as Shadowcat and Sunspot were bathed in a black glow that showed that they had joined Psyche, Wanda, Portal, Candle, Magnify, Shimmer and Violet; pawns of the Shadow King.

Back in the X-Mansion, nobody is aware of Wanda's, Shadowcat's and Sunspot's disappearance. Taking advantage of this, Psyche has sent Sunspot back to the X-Mansion, with the help of Portal, to spy on Professor X. Meanwhile...

Professor X, Storm and Wolverine were all in Professor X's room, discussing their next move. Sunspot stood outside their door, pressing his ear against the crack between the door and the wall.

"We can't kill them, Logan, they're being controlled by the Shadow King!" Storm argued; Wolverine had suggested killing all of them and ending the problem there and then. "But we have to do something," Professor X said, stopping the argument between Storm and Wolverine at once with the final tone in his voice. "The longer the Shadow King stays in Dylan's mind, the more the chances that he will suffer mental damage, which may kill him!" Concluding their past hour of discussion, Professor X said, "we will have to attack Dylan on the Astral Plane and force the Shadow King out of him."

"But how're we goin' ta do that, Charles?" Wolverine asked. "All telepaths can access the Astral Plane," Professor X said. "If I amplify my powers with Cerebro, I might have enough power to project all of you in. But, I will have to remain here, I need to remain connected to Cerebro." "Will ya be puttin' yourself in danger, Charles?" Wolverine asked. "No, it won't, Logan," Professor X said with a final air about him. "Tomorrow afternoon, gather all the X-Men and all the new recruits in the library. We will do it tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Sunspot walked along the hallway, and into the bathroom.

"Psyche!" Sunspot whispered. "I'm done!" Back in Psyche's room, upon hearing this, sent Portal, who had been waiting in the room together with Wanda and Shadowcat, to bring him back to the Astral Plane.

"Well?" Psyche asked. "Anything new?"

"They plan to come into the Astral Plane and attack us tomorrow," Sunspot said. "What?" Wanda said. "We don't have enough time to make preparations! How are we going to win?" A new idea formed in Psyche's brain. "Wanda, Sunspot, Kitty. Follow me. Portal, go back into the physical universe."

When they appeared in the physical universe, Psyche asked Kitty, "Pyro. The guy we battled in the Danger Room. Where does he live?" "I don't know," Kitty replied. "Do you?" she asked Sunspot. "No matter," Psyche said, as his eyes turned black in an attempt to root out Pyro's whereabouts. Projecting Pyro's whereabouts into Portal's mind, Psyche said, "Portal, go to Pyro and bring him here." Portal disappeared, and in a matter of seconds reappeared with Pyro.

"Hey! Where'd you bring me?" Pyro said angrily, before he set his eyes on the five of the Shadow King's pawns.

"Oh, it's the X-Brats," Pyro said arrogantly. "Do you want a beating?"

"No," Sunspot replied. "Do you?"

Pyro took out a Zippo lighter from his pockets, and formed a fireball. Sunspot stared at the fireball, and in a few seconds the fireball flew into his chest and got absorbed into his body. "Fire is heat and light, Pyro," Sunspot said, "when will you learn?" A glowing orange energy ball formed in Sunspot's hand and it flew at Pyro, knocking him over. "I have a deal for you, Pyro," Psyche said, stepping out amidst the others. "Join me in killing Charles Xavier and I will bestow upon you powers you can only dream of." "What kind of powers?" Pyro asked. "The kind of power I wield," Psyche said, as black shadow flew out of his body, into Pyro, and then into Psyche again. "Did you like it?" Psyche asked. "Do you like the energy, the pulsing energy coursing through you? Psychic energy that rivals Charles Xavier?" By the look on Pyro's face, even a baby could tell that he simply craved for that sort of practically limitless power. "Come with us, Pyro," Psyche said. Looking at Psyche with determination, Pyro nodded.

"Portal?" Psyche said as he looked at him. "Do your thing."

In Psyche's room, Wanda, Kitty and Sunspot were chatting. "How did you make Pyro join us, Dylan?" Sunspot asked. "Telepathy?" "No," Psyche replied, "I didn't. He joined on his own. Power corrupts."


	5. The Battle

The next day, at breakfast, Storm announced to the X-Men that they were going to go to the Astral Plane later in the day to fight the Shadow King.

"The Shadow King is an incredibly powerful mutant," Storm said, "who has abducted Dylan and is using him as a host. Our goal is to force the Shadow King out of him. Get into your uniforms and meet in the library at two thirty. Any questions? Yes, Kitty?" Storm said as she looked at Kitty, who had her hand raised up.

"What sort of powers does the Shadow King have?" Kitty asked.

"The Shadow King is a powerful telepath who is capable of mind control and possession," Storm replied, "like what happened to Dylan." Looking around, she asked, "any other questions?" Looking at the empty faces that stared back at her, Storm knew as much.

iShe doesn't even know we're working for the Shadow King/i, Kitty's voice echoed in Sunspot's head.

Later, at two thirty in the afternoon, everyone gathered in the library, as instructed, including Kitty, Sunspot and Wanda. Professor X's voice boomed into everyone's minds. "Everyone! Sit down. Remember, the Shadow King is not to be dealt with alone. Work as a team. As X-Men. Any last questions before I project all of you? Good. Sit down, everyone." Professor X turned Cerebro on, and everyone in the library lost consciousness as they were projected to the Astral Plane.

In a land where there was no sky, and there was no land, and everything was pearly orange-pink, the X-Men appeared.

"Wow! Where are we? Are we in Heaven?" These remarks could be heard amidst the X-Men, none of which have ever been to the Astral Plane before. "Silence," Storm said. "They're coming."

Everyone expected a group of people who rivalled the size of the X-Men, but out of the shimmering mist walked only one; Psyche.

"Psyche, where did you get your clothes?" someone asked. Psyche responded by firing a black energy wave at the X-Men, all of whom ran away just in time to escape the explosive impact of the energy wave.

Jean Grey concentrated on finding the real Dylan inside Psyche's mind. "Dylan... Dylan! I can help you! Concentrate!" Raising one of his hands, Psyche rebounded the telepathic probe back at Jean, who screamed and fell to the ground.

"Yes, I did that," Psyche said loudly, his voice echoing across the infinite space in the Astral Plane. "And Yes, Iceman, I can read minds."

Taking a step in front, Psyche boldly said, "among you, I have three helpers. Namely, Shadowcat, the Scarlet Witch, and Sunspot." When they were called, Shadowcat, the Scarlet Witch and Sunspot walked to join Psyche, to the astonishment of the X-Men. "That's it!" Nightcrawler shouted. "Somebody attack!" The X-Men went forth; Jubilee fired her light globules, Cyclops fired his optic blasts, Iceman fired ice beams, Magma fired magma balls, and everything hit their targets, but Psyche, the Scarlet Witch, Shadowcat and Sunspot were unharmed. Not even a scratch. The X-Men were astounded. "But how can that be?" Cyclops said in astoundment. Wolverine ran forward and thrust his claws into Sunspot, who did not even seem to notice, and then fired an energy ball in Wolverine's face, knocking him several metres back. Then it was revealed; Sunspot wasn't hurt at all.

"I told you this would make them attack first," Psyche said to the Scarlet Witch. "Alright! You win the bet!" she replied, before all four of them turned into balls of pink light which then promptly vanished.

"They're projections!" Spyke shouted in astonishment. "Grr... they're good," Wolverine said as he sat up from the ground.

Back in the Shadow Room, Psyche, Wanda, Shadowcat and Sunspot, who laid unconscious on the floor, suddenly jolted awake.

"That was fun," Sunspot remarked as they stood up from the tatami floor and walked out of the room and into the common room where everyone else was sitting down on the floor, including Pyro. Upon their arrival, the other mutants stood up as well.

"Shimmer, Magnify," Psyche commanded, "bring us to the X-Men." Shimmer held on to Magnify's hand, and everyone was cloaked in a golden light before teleporting in front of the X-Men.

The Shadow King's side looked at the X-Men with a deadly glare, and received an equally deadly glare back from the X-Men as well, as the X-Men went forth and attacked.

"Violet, now!" Psyche said, as Violet held her hands in the air and surrounded the Shadow King's pawns completely within a purple force field, and deflected one of Berzerker's energy bolts. Candle's eyes glowed red as a cloud of fire the size of a motorcycle appeared in the air above them; Pyro, being able to control fire, made it grow to the size of a van, as Magnify, using his ability to magnify the mutant abilities of others, made the cloud grow even bigger than it already was, as Candle made small balls of fire separate from the cloud and hurl themselves into the X-Men.

"We can't break through the force field!" Jean said to Storm, afraid that the battle would end very soon. Storm raised a hand, making a lightning bolt materialise in her hand, but nothing happened, and neither could she fly. "There isn't any weather in the Astral Plane, Storm," Psyche's voice echoed in her mind, and Storm turned her head to look at him staring at her with a roguish grin all over his face. "Your powers are useless here!" "Nightcrawler!" Storm shouted. "Teleport the X-Men in!" Nightcrawler nodded, and grabbed on to Cyclops and vanished amidst the smell of burning brimstone and smoke. Following Nightcrawler, Psylocke grabbed Iceman and Magma, who grabbed Cannonball, dissolved into shadow and appeared beside Nightcrawler and Cyclops inside the purple bubble.

Iceman and Pyro attacked each other by means of extremely huge projectiles from both sides, and Iceman was winning, as he slowly froze Pyro; the ice slowly coated Pyro, moving up from his feet to his knees, then to his waist, and in a few seconds covered his chest in ice and was threatening to cover his face just as soon as his neck was frozen solid. "Candle!" Pyro shouted. "Give me a fire!" Candle's eyes burned with the colour red as a fireball the size of a tyre appeared in front of her and she threw it at Pyro, who used it to melt the ice covering his body. "Oh, no you don't!" Iceman shouted as he launched an ice beam at the fireball to put it out, but Pyro, having foreseen that move, made the fireball grow in size and hurl itself at Iceman, and the ice beam cancelled out the fireball, but caused a great deal of water vapour to materialise, filling the force field in mist.

A shadowy blade manifested on Psylocke's wrist as she ran towards Psyche, but had to teleport out of the way when she dodged a magma ball, and reappeared in front of Psyche. "Do you think that you're the only one around here who can do that, Psylocke?" Psyche said softly, gesturing at Psylocke's wrist. "Yeah, can you?" Psylocke retorted, and then gasped in horror as a black sword appeared in Psyche's left hand and a shield appeared in his right. "How did you ever guess, Psylocke?" Psyche said, as the two engaged in a battle of blades as Cyclops fired an optic blast at Sunspot, who, unfortunately, did not dodge it in time, and he fell to the ground as the blast hit him.

"I never thought you would betray us," Cyclops said with anger in his voice, as he fired another blast at Sunspot, but not in time. Shimmer had waved a hand at him, causing him and his optic blast, halfway through the air on the way to Sunspot, to teleport outside the force field in a flurry of golden lights, causing his optic blast to knock into Multiple, knocking him to the floor, and a few seconds later, he disappeared in a flash of orange and pink, and his body stirred in the library; if a physical hit that would kill a person hit a projection, it would cause them to revert back to their body.

"Multiple!" Cyclops shouted as he disappeared. "Where did he go," as Jean landed beside him.

From outside the force field, Berzerker and Jubilee were incessantly firing projectiles at the force field, hoping that they could break through, but Violet's concentration has not wavered. The Scarlet Witch walked out from within the force field, in front of Berzerker and Jubilee, and her hands glowed blue as the projectiles fired at the force field changed course and fired themselves back at the X-Men.

"That's enough!" Jean screamed as she flew into the air, glowing a brilliant orange, and raised a hand at the projectiles, causing them to disintegrate. "Kurt!" Jean telepathically said to Nightcrawler, "teleport the purple girl out of there!" Kurt, responding to Jean's command, roughly grabbed on to Violet's hands as they teleported out of the force field, which immediately disappeared because Violet had lost concentration. Jean, channeling the power of the Phoenix Force, raised her hands, and a broad stream of fire flew at the Shadow King's pawns. Psyche, grabbing from within his midst Iceman, seized control of his powers and projected an ice beam that was the exact same size of Jean's fire stream and matched its strength as well.

Jean was winning; her fire was quickly eating up Psyche's ice beam, but Psyche's ice beam regained its strength as Magnify and the Scarlet Witch combined forces and made the ice beam become as equally powerful as the fire stream. Psylocke, taking advantage of the situation, sneaked up behind Psyche, and thrust her knife into his head, and for a moment Psyche stumbled. "Jean!" Psylocke screamed. "Help me!" Jean focused all her powers into creating a force field around herself to protect her from the impending blast of energy when she let go of the fire stream, and when she did, she was enclosed in a bubble, in the midst of all the smoke created by the explosion. Blue and red energy was piercing through the force field that Jean was enclosed in, and Jean was set on fire and disappeared in a blast of roaring fire.

Psylocke's knife was still embedded in Psyche's head; the energy on both sides was depleting extremely fast, Psylocke's to power her knife and Psyche's (and the Shadow King's) to keep his psychic grip on Sunspot, Shadowcat, the Scarlet Witch, Candle, Portal, Magnify, Violet, Pyro and Shimmer, and protect himself from Psylocke's powerful psychic knife, so it was not surprising that he psychically short-circuited; his psychic grip on all of his pawns disappeared and he fell to the floor, brain-dead, crackling in black, pink and shadowy energy, and so did Psylocke, but upon fainting, she vanished, going back to her body in the physical universe, whereas Psyche laid there, not moving, the Shadow King was trapped in his body and was not able to come out, for Psyche was comatose and could not come to, so till then, there would be peace.

The battle was over.

Looking dazed and just plain confused, Sunspot, Shadowcat, Pyro, the Scarlet Witch, Candle, Portal, Magnify, Violet and Shimmer all looked utterly shocked at all the things that they had done when they were controlled by the Shadow King. Looking at Psyche's lifeless body, Sunspot said, "how're we going to bring him back?"


	6. The End

Back at the mansion, Portal placed Psyche, still comatose, on a bed in the sick bay, as Sunspot and Wanda placed Psylocke (not comatose, just unconscious) in another one beside him. Professor X knew that Psylocke would awaken, at most, after a day or two, but he was not sure when Psyche would wake up, and, when he did wake up, what he was going to do with the Shadow King, who was trapped in his body. He just did not know...

Yes, the story has come to an end. Have you enjoyed it? I've had quite a ball drafting a plot, improving on the plot, write a story, improve on the plot a bit more, and then write some more to touch up here and there and then finally come up with a complete story. I hope you got the sarcasm.

Yes, I do watch Charmed. And why do I say this? Because, when Psyche snatched Iceman's power to counter Jean's fire stream, Iceman was originally meant to be Berzerker, and the way fire clashed with lightning is reminiscent of Christy and Billie facing off with the Charmed Ones in the second-last episode of Season Eight. Magnify's power, when combined with Candle's, creates an effect similar to the way Billie makes Christy's fireballs extremely large with her projection power. Shimmer is actually based on the Angel of Destiny; Magnify was originally supposed to get projection as a power but I decided on the magnifying thing because projection is actually just a nice name for "deus ex machina".

I'm considering a sequel... tell me what you think! 


End file.
